Happy July! This is the bets month of the year, because it just so happens to be my birthday month! I can’t believe we are halfway through 2017, and on the downside to 2018. Makes me want to work quickly to achieve my goals! Speaking of which, let’s look at my June list and see how I did.

1.) Get my pre-sale for my new course up and running: C My course isn’t finished yet, but I made some great strides this month and am confident it will be ready by the end of the summer. I need to do better about setting aside blocks of time to work on it. I had a lot going on in June and it got pushed to the side.

2.) Read a book: D I did not read a book…however I did start one, and I read a magazine, so that counts for something, right?

3.) Make at least two new brand connections at BlogHer17: A+ Woo hoo! I crushed this one. I made about 5 brand connections at BlogHer and I can’t wait to see what comes of them!

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Moving on to my July goals…..

1.) Work on my e-course at least 4 hours a week: I know just saying “work on my course” is not a measurable and actionable step, so I am going out on a limb and saying 4 hours a week. So one hour a day 4 days a week, and I will be keeping track. At that pace, I should be on track to finish by the end of the summer!

2.) Workout 4-5 times a week: It’s been SO hot, I have been slacking. I go to Orange Theory twice a week, but other than that I have only been working out maybe one other time because the heat is unbearable. I need to either suck it up and just go even though my runs will be slow, or find another form of exercise. I’m working on it.

3.) Clean up extra room: My parents brought over some furniture that will eventually be Emma Kate’s “big girl” bedroom set, and I need to make room for it in one of the extra rooms upstairs so we can get it out of my garage!

Looking for a great way to keep track of your goals? Sign up for my free goal and fitness tracking printables at this link. Have a great July!

I have stated this before, but I have a love/hate relationship with the whole New Year’s resolution thing, and tend to veer more towards goals. As with everyone, the Christmas season was very busy, and I have not had a lot of time to sit down, reflect, and think about how I want to move forward in 2017. 2016 was a big year of change for us.

We moved to Florida, Bobby was gone for work for five months, we sold our frozen yogurt shop and our house, I wrote a book, and we now have a very active and talkative two year old. It took all of my energy just to keep my head above water, and I want to get back to some of the strategies I talk about in my eBook for creating more time, organization, and being less stressed out.

I have a hard time letting go of control, and (I have talked about this before,) get bent out of shape when things don’t go exactly according to my plan (which tends to have a VERY high bar). I really need to learn to just let things go, and go with the flow more. With that being said, I also want to be careful to not sell myself short and just let EVERYTHING go, or I don’t think I would ever get anything done!

I am a believer in dreaming BIG and believing in yourself, and that’s exactly what I want to do in 2017. I don’t want to be that person that looks at others and says “wow I wish I could (enter cool thing here) like her. She must be really smart/naturally gifted/better than me.” Hhhmmm. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of smart, naturally gifted and talented people out there, but don’t ever tell yourself you can’t do something because you weren’t born with a certain special talent.

I firmly believe that if you are intentional with your time, dedicated and ready to work hard, you can do more than you ever thought imaginable (as I look in the mirror and say this to myself!) I also believe in baby steps, and not trying to overhaul everything in one day…because that never works.

So let me ask you a question. What do you WANT out of 2017? Like what do you really really want? Like want it so bad it keeps you up at night, and you worry that if you don’t reach this goal you will never forgive yourself. If there were no money restraints, time restraints, etc. If you could do anything, what would it be? Also next, what is ONE THING I can do today to work towards my dreams for 2017? Baby. steps.

In order to help you with this, I think it’s a good idea to write this stuff down. Goals and dreams work best when they are measurable, so be sure to put timelines, details, and action steps in your plan. Don’t write things like “I want to lose weight”. (how much? by when? How do you plan to do this?) or “I want a new job” (by when? doing what? Where have you started looking? can you make certain contacts to help get you on your way?) Breaking your goals down helps them seem less daunting, and having a plan helps make things more manageable. At least it helps me!

Be sure to sign up to receive your free printables to help you with your dreams in 2017. Just click here and my fitness and goal setting printables (for things other than fitness!) will be delivered to your inbox! Friends, I am right there with you with big goals and dreams and figuring out ways to get there. Making a plan is step one. It’s an important step so don’t skip it. Write everything down and let’s get going. We are going to rock 2017!

QOTD: What goals do you have for 2017? Or go ahead and brag, what is something you accomplished in 2016?

Another month! October flew by and we are now in my favorite time of year! I may or may not have listened to a Christmas CD in the car on the way home from Disney #SorryNotSorry. I usually hold out until after Thanksgiving, but since we won’t be getting our tree up until the week after Thanksgiving due to the move, it made me happy to have some Christmas going on right now.

Anyway, I feel like I say this every month but November is going to be super busy! We are MOVING at the end of the month and there are so many moving pieces that I am hoping will fall into place. Before we look at my goals for November, let’s check out how I did in October:

1.) Not gain weight: B+ I am giving myself this grade because I am currently up a pound, but I’m pretty sure it’s bloat and water weight coming off from the trip. I didn’t eat all that terrible to be honest. Best way to not stuff yourself silly in Disney? Bring a 2 year old and you will be scarfing down a small plate of food in less than five minutes before you are off chasing them somewhere. We had breakfasts in the villa, and only did two sit down meals. The rest were shared counter service meals and snacks which we brought from home. I had ice cream twice but that’s really it for junky food! I didn’t even get a dole whip (sad panda) Also, we walked an average of 8/9 miles a day and I ran once on my own, so hopefully that helped keep any extra weight away.

2.) Get organized for Disney: B+ This also gets a B because I felt super stressed right before our trip, BUT, we made it there, and I didn’t forget anything major, and everything was fine! Our plans ended up changing a good bit but not because of lack of planning.

3.) Sell our house: A+ YES!!!! I am happy to announce we are under contract. This was one of the reasons I was a little stressed before leaving for Disney. We had a showing the day I was to drive down to my parents house, but I had already allocated that time to pack, and they ended up staying at the house for 45 minutes! Thankfully they ended up putting in an offer, but I was in quite the time crunch getting the house show ready and then packing up after they left. Anyway, the inspection went well, just a couple of minor things to fix, and we are scheduled to close the day before Thanksgiving. It’s all happening so fast and I have so much to do, which brings me to November’s goals!

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1.) Get the house ready for moving: This one is going to be a doozy. We have packers and movers coming, but there are things I want to take with us that I don’t want them to pack and fragile/valuable things as well…so I have to sort through everything/throw things away etc. before they get here. We will be at my parents over Thanksgiving and then in a hotel for about three days before we get into our new house, so I need to think ahead for things for Emma Kate etc. for that trip. (Oh did I not mention? We put in an offer on a house in new Tampa and are closing November 28th! Praying the inspection goes well on Monday!)

2.) Workout consistently without boot camp: Now that my beloved boot camp session is over and I’m not joining the next one since I’m moving, I need to hold myself accountable for working out. I can still do my HEAT classes at the gym and of course run, but I will need to lift on my own so I don’t lose the muscle I have worked so hard for.

3.) Get Bella groomed before we move: I know this seems silly but I have so many things to do before we go and Bella needs a haircut! It may be awhile before we find another vet so I want her to have a fresh cut right before we move.

4.) Change our address on all the things: This will be our fourth house, and definitely one of the things I dread most about moving. All the paperwork like forwarding mail, changing addresses on all the things, credit cards, auto bill pay, anything I buy online, etc. etc. Hopefully we will be in this house for a good long while!

Do you have a hard time sticking with monthly or smaller goals? You can download my FREE printable goal fitness trackers here to help you stay on track for this month!

QOTD: What is a goal you have for November? When do you put up your Christmas tree?

Having yearly and monthly goals is something I have been doing for awhile here on the blog. If I’m being honest though, it was more just something that I would throw out and “hope for the best”. If I accomplished a few, then that was great, and if not, well it didn’t alter my life in any way. I pretty much just had a flippant attitude towards goals, until I recently decided I wanted to tackle a big, monster sized goal that I knew I couldn’t take lightly or it would never actually come to fruition. It’s something I could write down on a life goals list for “someday”, but in reality I know I would simply skip over it because it seemed too dang hard and scary.

Well guess what my friends? I have decided I CAN DO HARD THINGS. In order to actually make my goal a reality, I knew I needed to come up with an actual plan that I would follow in order to reach my goal, and I wanted to share them with you in hopes it will light a fire and help you to get moving on something big you have been wanting to achieve. This leads me to the steps that I have been using as they relate to goal setting and goal ACHIEVING. I hope you find them useful! Be sure to read to the bottom for some fun new info!

1.) Create yearly AND monthly goals: Some goals are really big, and some are things that can get done in an afternoon. This is why I feel having long term or yearly goals and monthly goals is a good idea. Not only because it’s good to have mini goals and big goals, but because the BIG goals don’t seem so scary if you can break them down into smaller steps designed to help you achieve the big end goal. So not only should you take some time each year to evaluate your long term and big life goals, but try to come up with some smaller more manageable things, and think of ways to break up the big monster goal into smaller bites. For example, if I had a big long term goal of say renovating my kitchen, then I would break that down into monthly more manageable goals like “find a contractor and get three estimates” for month one, “pick out and purchase paint colors and new appliances” in month two, and “pick out and purchase flooring and light fixtures” in month three. Renovating a kitchen seems a LOT less scary when all you have to do this month is decide on paint colors and what new appliances you want!

2.) Make sure your goals are measurable: This is a big mistake people (and myself, yes me, all the time!) make when setting goals. One of the key points about a goal is that it needs to be measurable. if you just make a monthly run of “run more often”, well…what does that look like? How many times a week constitutes more often? Did you reach your goal running only twice a week? The waters can get really muddy this way, so a better goal would be “run three times a week” for a month, or “read two books this month”. That way you know if you succeeded!

3.) Create action steps that will help keep you on track so you are more likely to succeed: If I set a goal of running three times per week but don’t do anything else to help myself or plan for it, then I am more likely to fail. However, if I were to create action steps such as “write workouts into my calendar” or “pack my gym bag and put it into my car” and put these steps next to my goal, then I have given myself the tools to get the job done.

4.) Put your goals in front of you: One of the pitfalls of goal setting is forgetting about them! I am guilty of this as well, and have learned that if I keep my goals within sight, literally, I am more likely to work towards them. A couple of ways to achieve this would be to write your goals or action steps on the bathroom mirror, but a post it note on the refrigerator, or writing the goal step right into your daily planner so you know there is dedicated time in the week to work on them. The more often you see them, the less likely you are to forget about them.

5.) Know your worth, you CAN do hard things!: For me this is one of the biggest hurdles. Like most people, I have big hopes and dreams for my life, but sometimes the steps it takes to accomplish those things can seem pretty daunting and scary. It’s so tempting to just put something off because it seems to hard, or because we fear rejection or failure. You have probably heard this before, but Thomas Edison had 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at creating the light bulb. 1,000 yall! But guess what? He. never. gave. up. That man did hard things, and so can you.

I am in the process of working on a goal that is very overwhelming and scary to me, but I would love to let you in on it in about a month. I am nervous/excited/terrified to even tell you all about it, but I think it will be worth it to have the amazing people who have been with me over the years reading my work to help push me through to the finish line.

With that being said, I want to offer you all a FREE goal setting printable, fitness tracker printable, and monthly fitness goals printable, where you can clearly define and take action steps towards reaching your goals. All you have to do is sign up via email, and they will be sent to your inbox to print and fill out. In addition to this, my email subscribers will be the VERY first to know about my new endeavor when the time comes. Simply opt in to my offer below to be among the first to hear my news. I can’t wait to share with you, and I hope you enjoy the printables! You can click the link above or fill out the box below this blog post.

QOTD: What steps do you take to help ensure you reach a goal? Have you signed up for your free printables + my newsletter?

Hi! I am Heather Montgomery, formerly known as Running With Sass®, a 33-year-old living in Tampa, Florida with my husband and 4-year-old daughter. I’m just a regular girl who likes to run, travel, go to Disney World, and eat junk food.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Feel free to contact me, (or for PR inquiries or press trip invites) at Heather@HeathersLookingGlass.com.

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